Musical toy



Oct. 11, 1960 A 6 fd w 4 .///////|/V 6 6 .f n w f w, y l 6 m M 2 M, 6 4, /O w ,////w/. m W//l/, n wf .NMIHMIV 0 4 ,o @3J 2 2 4 4 5 l we, a w w www y# United States Patent/O MUSICAL TOY Joseph V. Ventura, 19 Franklin St., Wakefield, Mass.

Filed Mar. 12, 1958, Ser. No. 721,008

8 Claims. (Cl. 8494) This invention relates to musical toys and more particularly comprises a new and improved musical toy capable of playing any selected tune.

Music boxes now available for childrens use and enjoyment are generally incapable of modication so as to .play different musical selections. They normally comprise a drum disposed adjacent a bank of reeds, and pins are mounted on the drum in `a particular arrangement to actuate the reeds in a selected sequence. As a result of the inflexibility of such toys, children quickly 4lose interest in them. Moreover, the monotony to an adult within hearing distance soon gives rise to considerable irritation.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a musical toy which will permit the child to select any tune to be played on it.

Another important object of my invention is to provide a toy which is educational and will require more than a physical manipulation on the part of a child to play a particular tune.

To accomplish these and other objects, my invention includes a peg board type of surface .covered by a maze of holes. Each of these holes is capable of receiving a peg which in turn carries a tone producing element.

The pegs each contain a hollow chamber in which is positioned a reed or pin fixed at one end. The pins extend out of the chamber formed in the pegs so that they may be placed in vibration by the apparatus -to be described below. The pegs have chambers of various sizes and the reeds disposed in the chambers are of diterent lengths. As a result, Ithe reeds produce different tones when placed in vibration.

In a second embodiment of my invention, all of the pegs have chambers of the same size but the reeds are of different diameters or are made of diiferent materials. By changing the modulus of elasticity of the several reeds or pins by making them of diiferent materials, or by varying the diameters of the pins, dilerent frequencies may be produced by the pins or reeds.

Disposed in a case beneath the pegboard are a pair of pulleys over which runs an endless belt. The upper run of the belt is disposed immediately beneath the lower ends of the pins and a bar or rib carried by the belt extends upwardly from it so that the pins lie in its path when the belt is moved on the pulleys. A crank is provided on one of the pulleys to facilitate movement of the belt with the rib across the bottom of the pegboard.

These and other objects and features of my invention along with its incident advantages will be better understood and appreciated :from the following detailed description of `a number of embodiments thereof, selected for pur-poses of illustration land shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a plan view of a musicalv toy constructed in Vaccordance with my invention;

VFigures 2-5 are cross sectional views of different pegs Patented Oct. 11, 1960 which are capable of producing different tones in accordance with my invention;

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view taken along the corresponding section line in Fig. l; and

Figure 7 is a cross sectional view taken along the corresponding section line in Fig. 6.

The musical toy shown in the drawings is organized about a box 10 which is closed by a specially formed pegboard 12 and which contains a belt and pulley system 14. The various pegs shown in Figs. 2-5 are shaped and sized so that they may be inserted into any of the holes or openings 16 lformed in the board 12.

The pegs shown in Figs. 2 and 3 are two of a set of pegs which would normally be included with the box 10, the pegboard 12 and the belt and pulley system 14. The pegs of Figs. 2 and 3 each comprise a body 20 within which are formed chambers 22 and 24, respectively. The chambers 22 and 24 are open at their bottoms at the lower end of the body 20 and each contains a vibrating reed or pin. The reed disposed in the chamber 22 is identified as 26 in the drawings while the reed disposed in the chamber 24 is indicated by numeral 28. It will be noted that the portion of the reed 26 which is free to vibrate is somewhat longer than the free portion of the reed 28, and that each is anchored at one end in the body 20 at the top of its chamber. Because the effective length of the reed 26 is somewhat greater than that of the reed 28, when it is caused to vibrate its frequency of longitudinal vibration will be less than for the reed 28, and thus the tone produced by it will be lower if the reeds are made of the same material and have the same diameters. Thus, it -is clear that by selecting reeds of different lengths it is possible to obtain precise tones from each of the pegs and without difficulty the various notes of an octave or more including half tones, may be produced. The actual lengths of the Areeds necessary to produce the various notes of an octave and the particular material from which the reeds should be made is a matter of design and does not form part of this invention. It is only important to recognize that a considerable tone range may be acquired by this means.

For safety, it is desirable to place a round ball or knob over the free ends of the reeds or pins. Such a device will prevent the reed or pin which may have a rather sharp point from pricking the child. In each embodiment of my invention a knob has been illustrated on the free end of the reeds, and as is more fully explained below, the means for actuating the reeds actually strike the knobs.

The overall dimensions of the pegs are identical and each has formed at its lower end a collar 30 which is adapted to be inserted into the holes 16. The collars prevent the child from inserting the pegs too far into the openings. The holes or openings 16 formed in the board' 12 are arranged in transverse rows which are not exactly normal to the -direction of travel of the belt 32 forming part of the belt and pulley system 14. it should be noted that no two holes are transversely aligned across the board. For example, the hole 16 is not aligned with the hole 16" in the board 12 but rather it lies somewhat to the right of that hole (as viewed in Fig. l).

Referring now to Fig. 6, the reader will note that when the pegs are inserted into the holes 16 formed in the board, the reeds 26 extend downwardly into the box 10- to a distance just slightly above the upper run of the belt 32. A rib 34 is formed on the belt 32 across substantially its full widthv and extends upwardly to a height above the bottom of the reeds. Thus, when the upper run kof the belt 32 Vas viewed in Fig. 6 moves to the right,

- the rib 34 carried by the belt strikes the knobs on the bottom of the reeds to set the various reeds in vibration. The reed y40 of peg 40 will sound irst and the reeds 42, `44 and 46 of pegs y42', 44' and 46', respectively, will sound in order following the sounding of reed 40. From the foregoing description, it is clear that by selecting the proper peg and by arranging them in a particular order in the various holes `for-med on the board 12, any tune may be played by the toy.

The belt and pulley system 14 includes a pair of pulleys `48 and 50 which support the belt 32. The pulley 50 merely idles on its shaft 52 while the pulley 48 is driven by the crank 54 which `may be integrally formed with the shaft 56 supporting the pulley 48. Thus, by turning the crank 54 the child may cause the belt to carry the rib 34 across the box 10 immediately beneath the board 12 and actuate the reeds in each peg mounted on the board.

In Figs. 4 and 5, I have illustrated a second embodiment of pegs. The pegs shown in these figures each has a body 60 within which a chamber 462 is formed. Unlike the pegs of the preceding embodiment, the chambers 62 and the reeds mounted in them are of the same length. However, the reed 64 mounted in the chamber of the peg shown in Fig. 4 has a smaller diameter than the reed 66 mounted in the chamber of the peg illustrated in Fig. 5. Thus, the frequency of vibration of the reed 64 is greater than that of the reed 66 and therefore reed 64 produces a higher note when set in vibration. Although I have shown but two pegs in this group, it is to be understood that to produce the whole tones of an octave requires eight pegs, each having predetermined and diierent diameters and additional pegs would be required to include half tones or to increase the overall range to more than one octave. It should also be noted that while the reeds 64 and 66 may be made of the same material and yet produce different tones by virtue of their different diameters, in a like manner they could be of the same diameter and length be made of different material having different moduli of elasticity to achieve the same result.

It is worthy of note that the pegs could readily be molded of plastic. If the embodiments of pegs shown in Figs. 2 and 3 are to be used in the toy, a progression mold could be. employed to make chambers of different sizes Within the bodies. The endless belt 32 may well be made of a rubberized material and the rib 34 molded as an integral part of it. It may also be noted that I have illustrated two such ribs formed on the belt. The second rib 34 is disposed 180 away from the rib 34. By using two such ribs, the child may play the same tune over again without having to return the rib to a position adjacent the iirst peg. In the absence of the second rib 34', after the rib 34 has travelled its course on the upper run of the belt, it would not be possible to play the toy a second time until it had been returned to the position illustrated.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications may be ymade of my invention without departing from its spirit. For example, although I have shown three holes in each transverse line formed in the board 12, this number is not critical. However, when the toy is to play tunes written in 3/4 time each transverse row of three holes in fact may represent one measure of the selection. It may prove desirable to use four holes aligned in each row if it is found that most childrens music is written in 4/ 4 time.

In using the toy, a set of instructions could be furnished which suggest to the child the manner in which the pegs should be arranged for a number of different tunes. The pegs could be color coded so that all pegs which sound the note c are red, the pegs which sound the note d are orange, and the pegs that sound the note e are yellow, etc. When the pegs are mounted in the board, if a note is to be more than one beat long, it is only necessary that one or more of the holes which follow it in order be left empty. It may also be desirable to number the transverse rows of holes and indicate the longitudinal rows by letters, each marked clearly on the'support 12. If the rows are so numbered, the instructions could suggest to the youngster that `a red peg be .placed in hole A-l; a green peg be placed in hole B-l; holes C-l and A-Z be left empty, etc. The

' musical knowledge which may be acquired by a child playing with such a ltoy is obvious.

For the toy to operate properly, the pegs should t snugly within the holes formed in the support. The fit of the pegs into the holes formed in the support may be enhanced by splitting each collar into two or more separate arcuate sections. By this means, a limited amount of resiliency may be introduced into the collars to compensate for variations in the diameters of the various holes. Obviously other expedients could be used to accomplish the same purpose.

In view of the fact that numerous modifications may be made of my invention, I do not intend to limit its scope to the embodiments illustrated and described. Rather, it is my intention that the scope of this invention be deter mined by the appended claims and their equivalents. What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A musical toy comprising an elongated support, means delining a plurality of rows of openings in the support with the openings in each row being spaced longitudinally with respect to the support, all of the openings being of the same size and adapted to yieldably hold pegs mounted in them, a pulley disposed adjacent each end of the support and adapted to carry an endless belt which extends longitudinally of `the support, a belt carried by the pulleys, means for turning at least one pulley causing the belt to move along the length of the support, pegs mounted in the openings, actuating means carried by and 4movable with the belt and extending toward the support, means defining chambers in each peg and open at one end, the open end of the chambers facing the belt, and vibratable members secured at one end in the chambers with their other ends extending out of the chambers in the path of the actuating means.

2. A tone producing peg comprising a cylindrical body, a collar formed at one end of the body and of smaller diameter than the body, means defining a chamber extending axially in the body, said chamber being open at the collar end of the body and closed at the other end of the body, and a reed disposed in the chamber having one end rigidly supported at the closed end of the chamber and with its other end extending through the collar and out of the chamber.

3. A musical toy comprising a support, means defining at least one row of openings which extend through the support, actuating means disposed adjacent the support and adapted to be drawn along the support, a plurality of pegs each having a collar inserted in an opening, means defining a chamber in each peg and open at one end, and

sound producing meansmounted in each chamber and extending into the path of the actuating means.

4. A device as defined in claim 3 further characterized by said sound producing means comprising reeds having different resonant frequencies.

5. A device as defined in claim 4 wherein the reeds are secured at one end to the pegs and have different lengths.

6. A device as defined in claim 4 wherein the reeds are of the same length and of diierent diameters.

7. A musical toy comprising a plurality of pegs, vibratable tone producing means secured to each of the pegs, said tone producing means secured to the different pegs producing musical tones of different frequency, an elongated support, a plurality of retaining means secured to the support and arranged in rows transverse of the support, the retaining means in each transverse row being longitudinally displaced on the support, each of said transof pegs inserted in the openings, means defining a chamber in each peg vand open at one end, and sound producing means mounted in each chamber and extending into the path of the actuating means.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 320,440 McMahel June 16, 1885 825,610 Olt July 10, 1906 10 2,504,632 Blair Apr. 1S, 1950 2,557,061 Goldman June 19, 1951 

